Logjam in Div. 1 water polo

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Corona del Mar boys water polo coach Barry O'Dea hoped the Sea Kings would climb to No. 3 in the Division 1 coaches' poll after their strong finish at the Memorial Cup.

On Monday, Corona del Mar indeed surfaced at No. 3 but in an intriguing, three-way tie with Newport Harbor and Long Beach Wilson.

At the Memorial Cup on Saturday, the Sea Kings knocked off Newport Harbor, 11-6, and Long Beach Wilson, 11-10, to storm to the tournament title at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose.

At the time of Corona del Mar's breakthrough, the Sea Kings (20-6) were sixth in Division 1 while Newport Harbor and Long Beach Wilson were third and fourth, respectively.

The rankings are critical this week as the regular season concludes and the playoff pairing are released Sunday at 9 a.m.

Division 1 contenders also are trying to avoid a No. 4 or 5 ranking so they aren't placed on the same side of the playoff bracket with top-ranked Mater Dei (24-0). The two-time defending Division 1 champion Monarchs have won a Southern Section-record 72 consecutive matches.

“I hope we get the No. 3 (seed),” O'Dea said Monday night. “I think we earned it. … We did what we were supposed to do at the end of the (regular) season.”

But O'Dea said if Corona del Mar isn't seeded third, the Sea Kings will still be ready for the Division 1 playoffs.

“I hope we get it (the No. 3 seed) but we're going to be good to go wherever we end up,” he said.

In a head-to-head comparison of season results between Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor and Long Beach Wilson, the Sailors are 2-1. Long Beach Wilson is 2-2 while Corona del Mar stands at 2-3.

Perhaps no league race will be followed more closely than the South Coast's duel between El Toro and Dana Hills.

Dana Hills took a one-game lead after San Clemente upset El Toro, 11-10, on Monday. El Toro and Dana Hills split their two league games.

DAN ALBANO

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

When it comes to possible playoff madness, the Sunset League is leading the way.

There could be a three-way tie for second place after today's matches between Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor, and Edison and Huntington Beach.

The Griffins (9-0) have clinched the title, but if the Sailors win today and if Edison defeats Huntington Beach, the Sailors, Oilers and Chargers will be 6-4 in league.

If that's the case, Edison coach Trent Jackson said, Huntington Beach would get the tiebreaker for second place and Newport Harbor and Edison would play in a tiebreaking match Wednesday at Fountain Valley at 4 p.m.

In the Century League, Esperanza (5-6) meets Villa Park (4-7) today. The Aztecs can clinch the league's fourth and final guaranteed playoff spot with a victory.

However, if Villa Park wins, the teams will have to meet again in a league playoff match Wednesday.

The CIF-SS playoff pairings are released Saturday. The wild-card and first-round matches start next week.

DAMIAN CALHOUN

GIRLS TENNIS

A number of leagues around Orange County wrapped up their individual tournaments last week.

Sage Hill swept the Academy League finals as top-seeded Liana Korber claimed the singles championship and Kimberly Brown and Lauren Hsu took the doubles crown.

After completing its undefeated run through the Orange Coast League, Laguna Beach won both the championships in singles (Brooke Michaels) and doubles (Chloe Mansour and Dominique Willette).

In the Trinity League, the titles went to Santa Margarita's No. 1 singles player, Alexandra Krogius, and JSerra's top doubles team, Cara Cummings and Kelsey Testman.

BRIAN WHITEHEAD

CROSS COUNTRY

The Esperanza girls cross country team prepared for this week's Century League finals with a strong showing on Saturday at the Apache Invitational in Arcadia.

The Aztecs had all five scoring runners finish among the top 10 overall, as they took home first place in the small schools race. Senior J.J. Adams led way, finishing seventh in the 3.1-mile race in a time of 19:49.

In the boys' small schools race, Yorba Linda was the county's top team. The Mustangs (73 points) had five runners score in the top 25 and finished fourth.

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